Dear Interested Readers,
Our troops easily make friends with the children of Mosul, and school children just outside
FOB Kalsu, while finding peaceful progress in Ramadi. Many high level AQI suspects captured.
Joanna
_______________________________________
Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
April 18, 2008
3rd Armored Cav Regt Troopers work all phases of the fight 
Sgt. Michael McAlhaney, provides security at the entrance to a home while his platoon leader discusses the local security situation with the residents.
Sgt. Christopher Swofford takes a moment to share a smile with some boys during a patrol in the al-Mamoon neighborhood of Mosul.
A young girl walks away with a "meal-ready-to-eat" and a grin.
-30-
MND-B Soldiers detain suspected Special Groups cell leader in Abu T'shir
FOB FALCON - Soldiers from the 1st BCT, 4th ID, detained a suspected Iranian-backed Special Groups cell leader, April 17. The individual is believed to be responsible for attacks in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.
The capture occurred during on-going ops in the Abu T'shir community of the Rashid district. "The op has been going extremely well," said Maj. Dave Olson, a 1st BCT spokesman. "The soldiers continue to conduct clearing ops in the Rashid district to create a safe and secure environment for the district's 1.2 million residents. We will target and bring to justice those criminals who disregard the rule of law and who obviously have no regard for the welfare of innocent Iraqi citizens."
-30-
Soldiers Distribute School Supplies
By Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis
4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. PAO
A student from Abu Shear School takes an arm full of backpacks back to the classroom April 14 in the Monsouri area of Iraq.
FOB KALSU — A convoy rolls up to a small school in the Monsouri area of Iraq, just outside FOB Kalsu, and at first glance the school looks abandoned. Then small faces start appearing and heads lean out the windows. Moments later, Soldiers with HHB, 1st Bn, 76th FA, 4th BCT, 3rd ID, and the 415th CAB, from Kalamazoo, Mich., currently assigned to 1-76th FA, are surrounded by helpful faculty and eager students, waiting to see what has been brought.
The Soldiers delivered backpacks filled with school supplies, soccer balls and notebooks, April 14 to the al-Raqhaa School, for primary and secondary students, and the Abu Shear School, for primary students. Each school has approximately 800 students.
“A lot of the missions we’re doing right now are school improvements and this mission helps the kids get the materials they need in order to get an education,” said Cpl. Markbradley Vincze, a father of one.
Spc. Christopher Ryder, a three-year veteran, said they try to put a smile on the kids’ faces. “It makes me feel like I am actually making a difference,” Ryder said. “It shows the kids that we’re good people.”
“Right now we’re using a systematic way of distributing our generosity throughout our AO (area of operation),” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Green, target acquisition platoon leader. “So we started with these two schools and we’re kind of going in a clockwise motion around our AO with school drops.” There are approximately 10 schools in the unit’s AO.
“We’ve gotten to know the people in our AO and it feels nice doing something good for them,” said Spc. Joseph Carroll, a one-year veteran. “It also gives the Army a positive image.”
“It shows the people that we’re not just here for ourselves; we’re going to work for the community, work for the children,” said Green, a father of three. “I think if you win the children, you win the adults. They’re kids just like our kids, they just have less.”
“Hopefully the young ones remember American Soldiers as helpful, so maybe our kids won’t have to be here in 20 years,” said Pfc. Agustin Aguilar Jr., a one-year veteran. “They are grateful for anything and they don’t look at us and run away - they know we’re friendly to them.”
-30-
Coalition forces detain four suspected AQI terrorists (Samarra)
BAGHDAD – CF detained 4 suspected terrorists during ops targeting alleged associates of AQI leaders southwest of Samarra and in south Baghdad Friday.
CF secured a building and detained a suspect allegedly involved in the procurement of bomb-making materials, including components for suicide vests.
Intel reports led CF to a building southwest of Samarra where they secured the area and detained 3 suspects.
- 30 -
Eight suspected AQI facilitators detained in Mosul
BAGHDAD – CF detained 8 suspected terrorists in Mosul today, including 2 wanted men believed to facilitate the movement and ops of a senior AQI leader.
CF detained 2 suspected terrorists at a house in Mosul, and one of them identified himself as the targeted individual before leading the ground force to another area. Additional tips directed CF to the second targeted individual, who surrendered to the ground force. 5 additional suspected terrorists were detained in the op.
“We are continuing to apply pressure to the terrorists’ networks,” said Cmdr. Scott Rye, MNF-I spokesman. “We’re working to systematically break down AQI’s structure, capture AQI’s key leaders and bring them to justice.”
-30-
‘America’s Battalion’ Capitalizes on Ramadi’s Security Situation
By Cpl. Nicholas J. Lienemann
Regimental Combat Team - 1
Marines unload palettes of bottled water at JSS Iron located in southern part of Ramadi, April 6.
RAMADI — Processions of armored vehicles clamoring down the now busy streets of Ramadi, have come to be quite a familiar sight, but for the Marines of H&S Co, 2nd Bn, 8th Marine Regt, running re-supply missions during daylight hours is a stark difference from their last deployment.
“We couldn’t so much as leave the wire last year without getting into some sort of fire-fight,” said Cpl. Pirtus Esperience, a rifleman attached to H&S Co. “Now we’re running supply convoys out to the companies in the city during the daylight hours pretty much without incident.”
Capt. Lance T. Pugsley, logistics officer, 2nd Bn. said the change in tactics can be directly attributed to the increased Iraqi security in and around the city. “Running daylight re-supply missions during the daytime was practically unheard of when we got out here,” said the 38 year-old. “The Iraqi police have done a tremendous job… they have definitely stood up and taken control of their city.”
It’s obvious driving through Ramadi that the IP’s have taken the lead in security. They conduct daily joint patrols with Marines as well as post guards at checkpoints throughout the provincial capital. Such measures have allowed Marines to step back and fill more of a supporting role towards the overall stability in the Anbar region.
The delivered supplies enable Marines at each JSS to operate efficiently in remote locations throughout the city. Not only do the H&S Co. Marines provide crucial gear to the warriors of “America’s Battalion,” they also enhance morale with hot food, mail, and clean laundry.
Since their arrival to Iraq last October, the H&S Co. supply convoys have conducted about 900 missions and logged more than 15-thousand miles throughout their area of ops. They have also transported approxi. 4 million pounds of cargo and performed 74 vehicle-recovery ops.
“I think to some degree that logistics side goes unnoticed,” Pugsley said. “But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, that just means everything is flowing smoothly and we’re contributing.” The Marines of “America’s Battalion” are set to redeploy to Camp Lejeune, N.C., within the next 2 months.
-30-
On the Bubble 
